The Brewing Report: Widmer Reserve Prickly Pear

It almost seems cruel to review this beer because it was a limited production brew from the spring,but it is so delicious. My husband and I tasted Widmer Brothers Reserve Prickly Pear Braggot at a craft brewing tasting at the Aquarium and just couldn't get enough. It is sweet, smooth and has a slight malt taste. The high alchohol contenet makes it more of a sipping beer than a chugging beer. This beer represents the reason we go to beer tasting events. There is no way we could put in the time to search out all the different beers we could possibly like. Through tasting events, we have really developed an appreciation for different types of beer and found some incredible gems.

After enjoying this beer so much, we decided to secure the winter reserve offering as well. Turns out it was a bourbon ale. I also liked Widmer Brothers Reserve Barrel Aged Brrbon. The aging process gave it is a nice oak flavor, but not too strong. The balance was still more heavy on the whiskey flavoring side than the traditional beer side, but it worked out well. This beer you should still be able to find in stores if you are so inclined.

Brewing Report: Tasting Notes from the Cajun Cafe Beer Festival

In mid-November, my husband and I headed to the Cajun Café Beer Festival. Cajun Café is a great restaurant in St. Petersburg with fantastic food and great location. We were really impressed with this festival. It is unique because the owner doesn’t use one particular distributor and spends the year stockpiling interesting micro-brews. He also invites some of the local Home brewing clubs.


The festival was well laid out. Each table had six to fifteen beers to taste. The tickets also included a fruit and cheese plate and a Taste of Cajun Café plate – gumbo, red beans and rice, crawfish cornbread. Yum! Plus the band was so fun!

The beer festival highlighted a few of the beer trends:

- Super hoppy beers: I think this trend may be ending – thankfully, but it seems like breweries were completing to see how much they could out-hop each other.

- High alcohol – We had trouble deciphering between the 13% beers. They all had a very sweet, alcohol taste.

- Aging in a bourbon barrel – The fest had two bourbon barrel ales – Windmere Reserve and a local home brewer’s version. The Widmere Reserve has nice flavor, but we were impressed with how the home brewer was able to produce a very balanced smooth beer.

- Sour beers – I hadn’t tasted a sour beer before and the Festival had a couple stunners. It reminded me of sitting back in the back of bus on the way to Washington DC eating sour balls until we burned the insides of our mouth. The highlights were Zuur and the Cascade Creek Northwest Style Sour Ale. The Cascade Creek was the best at the Festival. It was smooth, full bodied and a great palette cleanser.

We picked up the best tip – a pretzel necklace. A lot of the beers had very strong flavors – sour, hops, and powerful stouts. We definitely needed a palate cleanser after some of those.

We will definitely go again.

Here are some of our tasting notes:

Red Hook Expedition 8-4-1: A nut brown ale with malty flavor on a strong background of hops.

Cuvee 2: Oak Aged, deep flavor, very smooth

Starr Hill The Love Wheat: Crisp, fruity with a slight note of sour

Ommegang 3 Philosophers Quadruple Belgium Style Ale: Tartness of the cherries helps to offset the sweet from the high alcohol content.

Ommegang Witte: Very refreshing wheat with great citrus notes

Great Divide Smoked Baltic Porter: A great porter base with a smokey flavor that delivers on the promise.

Ommegang Cup of Kindness Limited Edition: A scotch ale that delivers on its promise.

Mike’s Homebrew Pumpkin Spice: A great balance of both pumpkin and spice flavors. The only pumpkin beer Angie has ever liked.

Dunedin Brewers’ Guild Belgium Double Chocolate Stout: This stout made by a local home brewer was so decadent. It was delicious, velvety and super-sized chocolate flavor.

Dunedin Brewers’ Guild Petit Saison: A solid saison. Light fruity, but still had the body of a beer.

Red Brick Vanilla Gorilla: Smooth vanilla dark ale that reminded us of cream soda.

Fort Collins Brewery Common Ground: Coffee flavor but not dark. It is a really good and unusual beer.

Dunedin Apricot Wheat: This beer delivers a wheat background with apricot flavors and nose.

Dogfish Chicory Stout: What a great combination! The flavors of chicory meld nicely with the solid stout background.

Breckenridge Vanilla Porter: Definitely had vanilla flavor, but avoided being overly sweet. A solid porter.

Brewing Report Great Divide Hibernation Ale and Abita Pecan Harvest Ale

Great Divide Hiberation Ale
It’s easy to see why this English Style Old Ale has medalled at the Great American Beer Festival. It has a rich malt flavor that is complimented with a nice hops finish. The ale is so balanced that the complex hops flavor is offset by the sweet malt in such a way that makes the beer very drinkable. Well done, Great Divide, well done.

Abita Pecan Harvest Ale

This ale is made with Louisiana Pecans. It’s has a good flavor and the pecans add a nice nutty finish to the ale. It has that signature Abita taste that is a good balance of hops.

Brewing Report: Magic Hat Winter Seasonals

Odd Notions – Winter ‘10: We were a little timid to try this one since our experience with the Odd Notions Fall 10 was terrible. This ale was the exact opposite. Where the Odd Notions Fall 10 was overwhelming with strong flavors, this beer was much lighter. It has a caramel color with a good head. Based on the color, you would expect a heavier malty taste, but instead the brew is very light with a mild malt and flowerily background with a slight taste of hops. The lightness is deceiving because it has a 6% alcohol content. The flower notes come from the hibiscus with is brewed into the beer. It definitely doesn’t taste like a traditional heavy winter beer. It has a high drinkability, but not a “must-try”. The Magic Hat brewery describes it as a red ale with subtle spice and a slight zing from rye and Hibiscus petals. We definitely didn’t pick up the spice and zing, but that may be more a comment on our palates than the brewery’s description.

Howl Winter Seasonal – It is a black ale that hits all the right notes – smooth, full of the roasted malt and slight coffee flavors and avoids the bitter notes that often plague a black ale. It is a great complement to winter and the heavy comfort foods that go with it. This is a must try.

Brewing Report: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale by Alltech Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company is the reason people go to Craft Beer Festivals. It won the 2007 Silver Medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the Barrel and Wood-Aged Category.

This beer is insanely good. It is smooth and robust, more suited to sipping than chugging. It is aged in bourbon barrels – hence the name – so it takes on a whiskey flavor on a beer backdrop. It was the best beer we had at that Savannah Craft Beer Festival. We were devastated to find out it is only available in Kentucky and Ohio.

So, if you find yourself in KY or OH – you must check this out. That’s an order!

Brewing Report: Cigar City Brewing

The Tampa Bay area has quite a few breweries. Since micro-breweries are a big part of many of our travelling adventures, we figured we should try to visit some of them right here in our own backyard. The first up was Cigar City Brewing. http://www.cigarcitybrewing.com/

Cigar City has a national reputation for putting out great beer. They have even won awards at the Great American Beer Festival.

That tasting room is attached to the brewery. It's a long wooden bar where you can buy pints, quarts and a sampler of four beers. We sampled eight of their beers on tap. They had two Saisons that were very unique. Marshal Zukov’s Imperial Stout was delicious – smooth, robust and one of our favorites. The two we decided to bring home were the:

Madero Oatmeal Brown Ale – This is a fantastic brown ale. It is smooth and malty. It is full of flavor, yet very drinkable. It has a great toasted flavor. Definitely one of the best brown ales I have ever had.

Rye Porter – The Rye Porter was also a winner. It was full of flavor and well balanced with a nice finish.

We will definitely be back.

Brewing Report: Red Sky at Night

I just love beer tastings. I really just can't get enough. I love the exposure to all the different beers without the commitment to a whole pint. At a recent tasting, I was exposed to Red Sky at Night by  Heavy Seas Brewery.

Picture from website

I adore that all the beer names relate to the high seas. I learned that this was a saison or farmhouse ale. What traditionally gives this type of ale its spicy and fruity flavor is open fermentation as in the fermentation process is done in the open so variations of wild yeast can get in on the party.

I found this beer crisp, fruity with a touch of spice. I would relate it to a Sauvignon Blanc as it would pair well with rich foods. The crisp, clean taste would cut right through all that heaviness. It is brewed with Belgium yeast and packs quite a punch - 7.5% alcohol.

If you live in Baltimore - you should be drinking it RIGHT NOW. If you don't - hopefully you'll get a taste soon. Cheers!

The Brewing Report: Creme Brulee Stout and Ginger Ales

Southern Tier Creme Brulee Imperial Milk Stout

I recently learned that these beers are called Imperial Stouts because they were originally brewed in London for the Russian court of Catherine II. It needed to have a higher alcohol content to avoid freezing during transport. The term “imperial” is used much more loosely in modern day, but it’s still fun to think about how the beers – India Pale Ale and Imperial Stouts - we enjoy today were conceived basically to survive transport.

The Crème Brulee Imperial Milk Stout from Southern Tier Brewery in Lakewood, New York is amazing. I first tried it at Bukowski’s in Boston on tap. Because of the high alcohol content, it is served in a goblet. I was estastic to find it in my local liquor store. It is brewed seasonally so you’ll have to look right now to find it. It is worth the search. The stout is so smooth that I can actually use the term luxurious. It has that burnt sweetness associated with a crème brulee dessert due to the dark caramel malts and vanilla beans used in the brewing process. This is a must –try. I also made a beer sorbet out of it and that was delicious as well.

Magic Hat's Odd Notion Series Magic Hat’s Odd Notion Series is an unique way for Magic Hat to encourage its brewmasters to try new types of beers.

The Summer ’10 iteration is a riff on a Belgian ale – a ginger ale. It has a great blend of malts and hops with the sweet/spicy complement of ginger. Served very cold, it has a dry, almost nutmeg taste. As it comes to room temperature, the ginger flavor comes more the forefront. We think this beer would pair well with Indian food.

Brewing Report: Red Brick Brewery

Pale Ale –Flavor is a less hoppy than many pale ales so that increases the drinkability. It would hold up well to a steak. The fruity aroma leads to a fruity aftertaste. If you love traditional pale ales, you miss the sharp bite.

Brown – This brown ale has a strong unique flavor. It avoids the super sweet notes that many brown ales have. The maltiness is more complex that I have found. My husband tasted notes of dark chocolate while I thought it had stout-like flavors. As for drinkability, I think I would max out at two beers due to the full flavor.

Blonde – This Blonde has a full body making it a little heavier than what I typically expect from a Blonde. The flavor is very nice – a slight hops taste with a sweet finish.

Brewing Report: Bud Light Lime and Bud Light Wheat

Bud Light Lime – A poor’s man Corona. My husband’s reaction was “Is this a malt beverage?” My take – It is slightly over carbonated so it does feel like you are drinking something fake. There is lime flavor. You can tell they are going for a Corona flavor, but, in my opinion, fall short. In its defense, I have liked it much better in draft form where it tastes more balanced.


Bud Light Wheat – The coriander flavor is prominent. It has an unexpected orange finish. It’s hard to me to judge the “wheat” flavor because I am so used to unfiltered wheat so the wheat flavor here is too subtle. I like it better than Bud Light regular.

Brewing Report: Smuttynose Brewing Company

Today's brewing report takes us to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We are kicking ourselves that we didn't visit Smuttynose Brewing Company where we were in town. Luckily, the beers are distributed along the East Coast so we can sample them here at home. So here we go.

First we have to say, we absolutely love the labels on these beers. They are so fun and this one label is our favorite:

Smuttynose IPA -  This is a drinkable IPA. It has the sharp hop notes you would expect, but also offeres a smooth and refreshing finish.

Shoals Pale Ae - The pale ale is well blended and smooth with slight floral and fruity notes.

Robust Porter   - This lovely porter has a nice mouth feel, full-bodied flavor with a slight bitter finish.

Old Dog Brown -  This is a solid brown ale. It has good full flavor with a slight bitter finish. We liked the Downtown brown slightly better,  but this is a good choice.

Cheers!

The Brewing Report: Flying Dog

This round of beer tasting involved a Chicago beer lover. She calls   The Map Room home so therefore she is highly qualified. The first brewery we tasted was Flying Dog. Flying Dog began as a brewpub in Aspen, Colorado and is now brewed for our at-home pleasure in Frederick, Maryland. The Map Room Girl's first comment about Flying Dog was  "any beer that quotes Hunter S. Thompson is f-ing awesome". And I have to say that I agree. So let's get started.

Doggie style pale ale - This is a very drinkable pale ale. It's light with just enough bite to be able to tell it is a pale pale ale, but overall very mild.

Snake Dog IPA - This is definitely an IPA - it has an in your face bite and bitterness, but a fruity note at the end that helps balance it out.

Old stratch amber lager - The initial reactions were blah. Part of that could be because we sampled this after the pale ales so we were expecting a stronger flavor. It has a very slight malt taster. The flavor is okay but  wouldn't pick it out as an amber in a blind test.

In Heat Wheat Hefeweizen - this is one of my favorite beers. It is full of flavor. The Map Room girl calls is banana; my husband calls it lemon, and I think it just a nicely balanced citrus flavor.

Whatever you call it - I like it!

Tire bite golden ale - very smooth, great summer beer, light but has good flavor.

Overall, we were very impressed with this group of beers.

They seem to find the right balance of drinkability without sacrificing flavor. Cheers!

Brewing Report: Boulder Beer Company

The next round of drinks in the Brewing Report series are from the The Boulder Beer Company in Boulder, Colorado. This brewery labels itself Colorado's first micro-brewery and in 2009 celebrated its 30th anniversary. We were lucky enough to sample three of their beers.

Sweaty Betty Blonde - Our first reaction to sampling this beer was "Oh! This is so good!! " The  inviting aroma gives way to a slight sweetness from the unfiltered wheat. It is incredibly refreshing and smooth.  This is the best summer beer we have tasted yet.

Flashback India style Brown ale - This is an interesting  riff on pale ale.  However, I love the malty goodness of a brown ale and the hops bitterness just ruins this beer for me.  The beer can’t figure out what it wants to be.

Mojo India Pale Ale -  This is a lovely IPA with the great hops flavor that avoids a sharp bitterness. It has a slight fruity taste and a smooth finish.

This brewery has a lot more beers to sample. We have added Boulder to our must-visit list so we can be sure to taste them all. Cheers!

Brewing Report: Yuengling Lager

Yuengling claims to be the America’s oldest brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. This is the house lager at the Spusk house. The brewery originated in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, but also happens to brewed in Tampa, Florida with water imported from Pottsville to preserve the taste. It is a classic lager - a perfect blend of hops and malt and so smooth.


*This is the sixth installment of a multi-week series on beer where I will be reviewing regional beers from across the country. Special thanks this week to Glenn Sparks for his help in tasting. Enjoy!

Brewing Report: Abita Brewery, Abita Springs, LA

We were first turned on to the Abita Brewery when we sampled their raspberry wheat purple haze at the Epcot food and wine festival. This Louisiana brewery turns out some mighty fine brews.

Purple Haze - The purple haze is fruity but still full of beer flavor. It is fantastic on tap so do yourself a favor and pour it in a glass. This is one of my top ten favorite beers.

Jockamo IPA – This IPA has a nice roasted malt aroma. It is midly hoppy. It has more of a traditional IPA kick - not as smooth as the Fire Rock IPA reviewed previously. The aftertaste also strengthens as the beer warms up.

Restoration Pale Ale - Fruity aroma, snappy taste, with a fruity finish. It has the bitterness you would expect from traditional pale ale. Jockamo is smoother, but less traditional.

The Wheat - This is not traditional wheat. Finishes slightly bitter. Otherwise, nothing to write home about. Definitely not the best of Abita.

The Amber - They call it a "Munich style" lager. It has good malt flavor with a slight bite of hops. Probably my second favorite after the Purple Haze. A solid lager choice.

All beers benefit from a pour out of the bottle.


*This is the fifth installment of a multi-week series on beer where I will be reviewing regional beers from across the country Special thanks this week to Glenn Sparks for his help in tasting. Enjoy!

Brewing Report: Wacko Summer Seasonal by Magic Hat Brewing Company

In honor of the 4th of July, I’ve decided to feature a beer that would compliment any barbeque: Wacko Summer Seasonal by Magic Hat Brewing Company in Burlington, Vermont.

This summer seasonal is a great summer beer. Beet juice adds a little bit of color and sweet. It slightly departs from typical summer ale – it is less fruity and has a stronger hops flavor. Because of this, it would hold up well to a spicy BBQ sauce this grilling season.

*This is the fourth installment of a multi-week series on beer where I will be reviewing regional beers from across the country Special thanks this week to Glenn Sparks for his help in tasting. Enjoy!

Brewing Report: Downtown Brown by Local Coast Brewery

We stumbled across the Downtown Brown by Lost Coast Brewery at the Top Wine SuperStore. The label just shouts “Try me.” I had no idea where Eureka, California was (5 hours north of San fransciso), but they definitely know how to make good beer. Downtown Brown is the only brew we have been able to find locally.

This nut brown ale rocks! It is one of our favorites. It has fantastic dark roasted malt flavor complimented with Carmel and Vanilla notes. It is perfect and a must try.


*This is the third of a multi-week series on beer where I will be reviewing regional beers from across the country Special thanks this week to Glenn Sparks for his help in tasting. . Enjoy!

The Brewing Report: Kona Brewing Company, Hawaii

This week’s beers are from Kona Brewing Company. The brewing headquarters are located in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. Thankfully, the beer is also brewed stateside in Portland, Oregon and Portsmouth, New Hampshire so I can find it reasonably priced at my local liquor store.


We first tasted Kona at a benefit for the Florida aquarium last year and loved it.

Fire Rock Pale Ale - The pale ale is bright, fruity and refreshing. It has the bite of a pale ale, but a smoother finish. Pale ale purists may revolt because it has a stronger malt flavor than most pale ale and some of the after bite is lost, But to us this makes it much more drinkable.

Longboard Island Lager - The lager is also a little fruity. It has a nice malty flavor and smooth finish. A solid choice in the lager category.


*This is the second of a multi-week series on beer where I will be reviewing regional beers from across the country To see the first post on Great Divide Brewing Company – please click here. Special thanks this week to Glenn Sparks for his help in tasting. . Enjoy!

The Brewing Report: Great Divide Brewery Denver, Colorado

This week I headed to Denver for work. On the advice of a fellow micro brew lover, I coerced two co-workers to join me at the Great Divide Tap Room. Between the 3 of us, we tried a pint of all the beers on tap.


IPAs: I have not yet acquired the taste for IPA, but my co-worker who has praised all 3 of the IPA selections. They had a classic IPA, a double IPA (2x the alcohol content 2x the fun) and Anniversary ale. Even I could appreciate these brews. Each one highlighted the hops flavor, but balanced the harsh after note that sometimes plagues IPAs with some malt sweetness.


Hades Belgium Ale - Great Divide had a lovely bright floral Belgium ale that was super easy to drink.

The Claymore Scotch Ale - This was tied for my favorite. It was malty, dark, smooth and had a fantastic Carmel flavor.

Wild Raspberry Ale - the rasberrry ale slightly disappointed. It was just too fruity for the 3 of us.

Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti - Great Divide offered both an espresso and Carmel stout. The flavors did not quite meld smoothly.

Samuri - ahhh the Samuri. I dare say it was the perfect summer ale. It is an unfiltered rice ale which adds another dimension. Light and refreshing but with flavor. Definitely my favorite of the night.

The Tap Room itself was really cool. It is just an "L" shaped bar with some wrought iron tables outside. It is walking distance from downtown and the ballpark. We sat outside enjoying the weather and the hipster parade. In fact, they had to kick us out at the 10 pm closing time. I will definitely be going back!

*This is the beginning of a multi-week series on beer. I will be reviewing regional beers from across the country and may even try some national comparisons. I would love to hear your comments and suggestions!  Enjoy!